Networked connections to the Internet are common, particularly in a corporate environment where multiple users are connected, via an intranet network and a proxy web server, to the Internet. The proxy server may store content (e.g., web site pages) for access by users outside the intranet. The server also provides internal network users with a portal or gateway to the Internet and runs many important internal applications. For example, the proxy server may act as a firewall to screen out harmful data and viruses. It may allocate connections, by permitting many users to share a single, high bandwidth connection to the Internet. It may also cache popular websites (saving access time) and block access to objectionable websites.
Because it serves as a user's portal to the Internet, a proxy or web server may be set-up to offer easy and convenient access to useful websites and data that are accessed via the Internet. The proxy server may be designed to provide a user interface with convenient links to selected pages of websites (e.g., the headline page of a news site). One drawback to such access is that it may be difficult to personalize (for each user) the content of those websites. Customizing and personalizing content can require use of passwords, “cookies”, or other personal information, and there are practical difficulties in the proxy server storing personal information for every user. Even if such personal information can be stored, it may not be entirely useful since such information is periodically updated and there is no assurance that the stored information is the most current. Software can be loaded on a user's machine to personalize the content of a website (even if access is through a proxy server), but often the manger of a corporate network will not permit software (other than specifically authorized programs) to reside on user machines.